Red Tag

By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo

 

THERE was a time when I would accompany my friends to buy clothes, pick the things we most like, pay for it quickly, and leave the store.  Sometimes, I see something I really like, but take my time to see if I still like it after several hours, which annoyed my friends so much. One of them, who was always in a hurry to eat advised:

“Gie, you should shop like a Russian! If you see something you like, take it.”

I am not sure where she learned how to shop like a Russian, or whether Russians really shopped very quickly, or they have peculiar shopping habits that she acquired over time. In any case, she had accumulated heaps of clothes which she could no longer wear after several months owing to her proclivity towards food. She refused to give them away, resolving to lose weight in order to wear them again, but had to buy new ones she could wear in her ever-expanding size. She still shopped “like a Russian”, and would attempt to convince me to try something on, which she thinks suits my formal attire.

“Here, try this on. The first time we came here three months ago, the price was P3,200. Now, it is down to P1,600. It has a red tag on it.” 

“Red tag? Is it damaged?” 

“No, it is a useful tool in the sorting process, where tags are used to identify disposable items that can be sold at a lower price to give entry to new stocks. Red tags are normally attached to items that are deemed unnecessary, disposed of, recycled or thrown out.” 

“In the same manner that government agents, particularly law enforcement agencies and the military, red-tags individuals and organizations perceived to be unnecessary and dispensable in the desired operation of the State.” 

“In the context of the Philippine government, red-tagging is used against left-leaning individuals and organizations, although the distinguishing qualities of “left-leaning” is not clearly defined. Left- leaning advocacies had been mainstreamed making it almost impossible to distinguish them from advocates of human rights, climate change and good governance. Anyone with a critical opinion of the government can be red-tagged.” 

“Like Sr. Mary John Mananzan, a leading advocate of human rights and women empowerment, a home-grown Urduja from Bayambang, Pangasinan.” 

“Sr. John is one of us, a member of the Board of Trustees of the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP), a US State alumni network, and is not part of the hierarchy of the Left.”

Left or right-leaning, no one deserves a red-tag. Or a dog tag. Or any other tag for that matter. Tags spit on human value. They negate the spiritual reality that often animates human idealism and the capacity to do good. In reality, leanings evolve over time, is tempered by the dynamics of major events, and shaped by the more personal considerations of individuals as they go through their own lives and expand their relationships.

 

Red tag

You are red, Madam!

whether you are green or blue

or yellow

if I see red, if I say red

you are red

I paint the colors

my strokes, my brush.

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